Most married couples share not just a household but also their financial resources. You will combine bank accounts and contribute toward the bills for your household. Your income benefits both of you, and you will make unpaid contributions to the maintenance of your household.
When you divorce, dividing property will be one of the biggest challenges. For many couples, their marital home will be the most valuable property that they own together and must therefore divide. You may feel like you need to retain the house.
Is keeping the house the primary goal in your upcoming divorce?
You don’t have to keep the house to protect your interest in it
Some people think they need to stay in the house to protect what they have invested in the property, but that isn’t the case. Arizona is a community property state. Even if you are not the one who lives in the home after the divorce, you still have a vested interest in the property.
The courts will have to consider the value of the home when dividing your other assets. Even if your ex lives in the house, they will likely have to refinance it and pay you a fair share of the equity in the property.
If you want to stay in the home for practical reasons, like maintaining proximity to your job or keeping your kids in the same school district, you will need to make similar concessions to your ex as part of property division proceedings.
What you need to do to keep the home
If you want to keep the home in your name, you will need to qualify for a mortgage on your own. Those without enough income or with compromised credit scores may have a hard time financing the full value of a property without support.
Provided that you qualify for a mortgage, you will need to sign paperwork to remove your ex from the title and make concessions either by withdrawing equity to transfer to your ex or granting them other property from the marriage, like a vacation home or a retirement account.
Setting realistic goals is an important early step for those planning for the property division process in their upcoming Arizona divorces.
